New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is likely to introduce an automated system to clear unclaimed money in inactive PF accounts. The aim is to make the process simple and faster for subscribers.
Under this system, money lying in inactive accounts will be directly transferred to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. This means users will not need to file claims to get their funds.
Rs 5,200 Crore to Be Released
In the first phase, EPFO is expected to process around 25% of Aadhaar-verified inactive accounts. This could benefit nearly 8 lakh users.
The total value of funds to be settled in this phase is estimated at Rs 5,200 crore.
Break-Up of Unclaimed Funds
The inactive accounts include a wide range of balances. Around 14,000 accounts have more than Rs 5 lakh pending.
About 38,000 accounts hold between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, while 41,000 accounts have balances between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.
This shows that a large amount of money is lying unclaimed across different account categories.
Small Accounts Already Approved
The Central Board of Trustees has already approved automatic settlement for accounts with balances up to Rs 1,000. These funds can now be directly transferred to bank accounts without any manual process.
However, a full rollout for larger balances is still awaited, and EPFO has not yet issued an official statement on the latest reports.
What is an Inactive PF Account?
An EPFO account becomes inactive when it stops earning interest. This usually happens after a person retires at the age of 55 and makes no contributions for three years.
For members below 55, interest continues until they turn 58.
Large Pool of Unclaimed Money
As of February 2026, EPFO had about 31 lakh inactive accounts with unclaimed deposits of Rs 10,181 crore.
Out of these, around 7 lakh accounts are more than 20 years old, while 18 lakh accounts fall in the 10–20 year range.
What It Means for Users?
If implemented, this move will help users access their money easily. It will also reduce the burden of paperwork and speed up fund recovery.
